Godzilla
Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira), known as the King of the Monsters, is a giant radioactive prehistoric reptile that is the star of the popular Godzilla franchise of films produced by Toho Company, Ltd. Since his introduction in 1954, Godzilla has become a worldwide pop-culture icon and to this date has starred in 29 films, the most recent being an American-made reboot produced by Legendary Pictures. Appearance Godzilla's appearance varies from film to film, but he has always resembled a giant bipedal reptilian creature that stands upright like a human. Godzilla has three rows of maple leaf-shaped dorsal plates running down his back and generally possesses charcoal gray-colored skin. In the Showa series, Godzilla is 50 meters tall, 100 meters long, and weighs 20,000 tons. From The Return of Godzilla to Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla is 80 meters tall, 190 meters long, and weighs 50,000 tons. From Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla is 100 meters tall, 212.5 meters long, and weighs 60,000 tons. In Godzilla 2000, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and the Kiryu Saga, Godzilla is 55 meters tall, 122.5 meters long, and weighs 25,000 tons. In Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla is 60 meters tall, 120 meters long, and weighs 30,000 tons. In Godzilla: Final Wars, Godzilla is 100 meters tall, 100 meters long, and weighs 55,000 tons. In Legendary Pictures' reboot, Godzilla is 108.2 meters tall, 167.7 meters long, and weighs 90,000 tons. Origins Godzilla's origins are not always specifically explored in every continuity, but he has always been a type of prehistoric creature that was awakened by nuclear testing in the 1950's. In the Showa series and presumably most of the Millennium series, Godzilla was a type of intermediary animal between sea and land-dwelling prehistoric reptiles that retreated deep underwater after the Cretaceous extinction and was awakened, burned, and enhanced by the Hydrogen bomb. In the Heisei series, Godzilla was a type of dinosaur called a Godzillasaurus that survived into the 1940's living in the Marshall Islands. Time travelers from the future moved the Godzillasaurus to the Bering Sea, only for it to be exposed to radiation from a Russian submarine and become Godzilla sometime presumably in the 1970's. In GMK, Godzilla is a prehistoric animal that is possessed by the lost souls of people who died during World War II to punish Japan for its sins. In the Legendary series, Godzilla is a type of giant amphibious reptile from the Permian that fed on radiation on the Earth's surface and retreated deep underwater following the Permian extinction. Godzilla was then awakened by an American nuclear submarine in 1954. History Showa Era The Showa series, called the "first series" in Japan, began in 1954 with the original Godzilla and ended in 1975 with Terror of Mechagodzilla. The Showa films have somewhat loose continuity and rarely refer to the events of previous films. Godzilla is generally portrayed as a heroic monster in the Showa series starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, though from Godzilla to Mothra vs. Godzilla he was mostly villainous. ''Godzilla Following the mysterious sinking of the fishing vessel ''Eiko Maru and the rescue ship Bingo Maru, a Japanese research team was sent to the remote Odo Island to investigate and interview survivors of the shipwrecks. Natives of Odo Island believed that the shipwrecks were caused by Godzilla, a legendary sea monster that they sacrificed young women to in the past when fishing was poor to prevent him from coming ashore to destroy mankind. One night, Odo Island was seemingly hit by a hurricane, but the damage left behind and eyewitness accounts indicated that this was no ordinary storm. Another expedition was soon sent to the island, led by renowned paleontologist Kyohei Yamane. Yamane stumbled upon a gigantic footprint containing high levels of radiation and a living trilobite, a prehistoric sea creature long since extinct. Suddenly, a lookout on the island reported that Godzilla himself had appeared on the other side of the island. A mob of people ran to a hill on the other side of the island and cowered in fear when Godzilla's gigantic head appeared over the hill. Godzilla roared fearsomely at the assembled humans and walked back to the sea. Yamane theorized that Godzilla was a type of amphibious reptile from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods that evolved traits of both land-dwelling and sea-dwelling reptiles. Godzilla must have retreated deep underwater following the Cretaceous extinction and survived in a sort of subterranean pocket for millions of years. Based on the traces of strontium-90 found in Godzilla's footprint, Yamane hypothesized that Godzilla must have been disturbed from his underwater sleep by the recent Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces reacted by dropping depth charges into the ocean, believing they would destroy Godzilla. This proved to be futile as Godzilla soon surfaced in Tokyo Bay. One night, Godzilla finally came shore in Tokyo and stomped through the outskirts of the city. Godzilla wandered onto a train track, where a train crashed into his foot. Godzilla grabbed the train and put it in his mouth before spitting it down to the ground. Godzilla bellowed viciously and waded back out to sea, reminding the people of Tokyo that he would soon be back. In preparation of Godzilla's next landing, the Self-Defense Forces erected a perimeter of electrical lines around Tokyo containing over 5,000 volts of electricity, and deployed platoons of tanks and other heavy artillery units. Godzilla came ashore shortly after and walked toward the power lines. The power lines were activated but did not phase Godzilla, who melted the electrical towers with a blast of superheated atomic mist. Godzilla tore through the remaining power lines and approached Tokyo, unaffected by the tank and artillery fire. Godzilla set the city aflame with his terrible atomic breath and trampled vehicles and civilians alike in the streets. Godzilla's raid lasted throughout the entire night, before he stomped back into Tokyo Bay. A squadron of fighter jets attacked Godzilla, only annoying the monster before he retreated under the waves. Tokyo was left in ruins, with thousands of innocents dead or dying from radiation poisoning. Touched by the horrific devastation, scientist Daisuke Serizawa decided to use the terrible chemical weapon he had unintentionally invented, the Oxygen Destroyer, in an attempt to destroy Godzilla and save humanity. A boat was deployed to Tokyo Bay and located Godzilla underwater using a Geiger counter. Serizawa and sailor Hideo Ogata were sent underwater in diving suits to detonate the device. Godzilla noticed the two divers and began to approach them. Ogata was pulled to the boat on the surface while Serizawa activated the device, disintegrating all of the oxygen molecules in the water and converting the water into a lethally corrosive liquid. Serizawa saw the device was working and wished his formerly betrothed wife Emiko and Ogata to be happy together, then cut his line. As the water's surface bubbled violently, Godzilla rose to the surface and roared defiantly at the people on the boat, and then sank to his death below. While Godzilla was finally dead, Dr. Yamane solemnly remarked that Godzilla most likely was not the only surviving member of his species, and that if nuclear testing continued, another Godzilla would probably appear. ''Godzilla Raids Again Only a matter of months after Godzilla's devastating attack on Tokyo, pilot Shoichi Tsukioka landed on the deserted Iwato Island to rescue his colleague and friend Koji Kobayashi, whose plane went down near the island. After Tsukioka reunited with Kobayashi and prepared to leave, the pilots overheard a deafening roar. The pilots cowered in a rock crevice and looked above to see a gigantic reptilian monster that Tsukioka instantly recognized as none other than Godzilla. The pilots soon realized Godzilla was not alone, as he was locked in battle with the spiny monster Anguirus. Godzilla and Anguirus soon tumbled into the ocean together and vanished below the waves. Tsukioka and Kobayashi told their story to Japanese authorities, who consulted Dr. Kyohei Yamane for his expertise. Yamane believed that the same atomic bomb test that awakened the Godzilla that attacked Tokyo in 1954 had also awakened another Godzilla and a giant ankylosaur. Yamane expressed his regret that due to Dr. Serizawa's death, there was no possible way to destroy Godzilla now. According to Yamane, the best bet of stopping Godzilla was simply to lead him away from shore using flares. Godzilla soon surfaced in the ocean near Osaka, drawn by the city's lights. The government ordered a blackout of the city and flares were subsequently dropped further from shore. The lights awakened horrific memories of the atomic bomb in Godzilla, and he waded towards them. It seemed that an attack by Godzilla had been successfully been averted. However in Osaka, three prisoners had escaped from a police van and stole a gasoline truck in an attempt to evade the police. The van crashed into a refinery and caused a massive explosion. The flames from the explosion drew the attention of Godzilla, who began to approach Osaka. Nearby, Anguirus crawled ashore in order to challenge Godzilla. Godzilla sighted his enemy and attacked him viciously. The two monsters battled though Osaka, demolishing the city as Godzilla's predecessor had done to Tokyo the year before. Godzilla and Anguirus arrived near the Osaka Castle and stared each other down. The monsters lunged at each other again, with Godzilla tackling Anguirus into the castle. Godzilla then bit down on Anguirus' neck, causing him to bleed profusely. Anguirus fell into the river and roared weakly, before Godzilla set him ablaze with a blast of his atomic breath. With Anguirus defeated, Godzilla calmed down and walked back to sea. The J.S.D.F. spent weeks searching the waters near Japan for Godzilla, with no luck. But when ships began to sink in the waters north of Hokkaido, they believed Godzilla had been located. Tsukioka flew his plane above an icy island, where he saw Godzilla standing. The J.S.D.F. was alerted and deployed battleships and fighter planes to engage Godzilla. Godzilla started to leave the island, so Kobayashi tried to keep him on the island while Tsukioka left to regroup with the J.S.D.F. Godzilla blasted Kobayashi's plane with atomic breath, and caused it to crash into the icy slope of the mountain, producing an avalanche of ice. This gave Tsukioka an idea: blast the slopes of the island and bury Godzilla in ice. The J.S.D.F. set the shore of the island on fire to keep Godzilla there, while planes fired missiles at the icy slopes. Godzilla managed to shoot several of the planes down, but wound up buried to his neck in ice. Tsukioka fired one last missile at the slope, causing Godzilla to be completely buried in ice. Godzilla's rampage was stopped, so long as he remained frozen. King Kong vs. Godzilla Over the course of the next seven years, the mass of ice that Godzilla was buried in broke off from the island and began to float through the sea as an iceberg. As it floated toward warmer waters, Godzilla began to stir within. Godzilla started to emit radiation that caused the iceberg to melt and emit a bright radioactive glow. The American nuclear submarine ''Seahawk was sent to the northern seas of Japan to investigate the iceberg, but crashed into it instead. The impact of the submarine was enough to cause the ice to crack and allow Godzilla to break free from the ice. Godzilla emerged from the iceberg and began to swim back to Japan. Godzilla came ashore near a military base and promptly set it and all of its forces ablaze with his atomic breath. Godzilla then headed to Hokkaido, where he stomped on a train that was moving through the countryside. As Godzilla moved further inland, he encountered King Kong in the forest. Kong threw a boulder at Godzilla, but Godzilla blasted the titanic ape with his atomic breath, prompting Kong to retreat. Godzilla clapped and roared victoriously, and headed toward Tokyo. The J.S.D.F. dug a massive pit and filled it with explosives, then covered it in false terrain. Godzilla walked into the trap and the plan seemed successful, until Godzilla climbed out of the pit completely unharmed. Out of options, the J.S.D.F. erected a perimeter of huge power lines around Tokyo in the hopes of repelling Godzilla. While this same tactic had failed to halt Godzilla in 1954, the voltage was considerably increased this time to one million volts. The plan worked, as Godzilla shied away from the electrical lines and wandered towards Mt. Fuji. Meanwhile, King Kong arrived and entered the city before the J.S.D.F. knocked him outwith Soma Berry juice and airlifted him to Godzilla's location on the slopes of Mt. Fuji. Kong was dropped onto Godzilla and the two monsters tumbled down the mountainside. Kong ran behind a boulder, while Godzilla pursued him. Kong grabbed Godzilla by the tail, but Godzilla swatted the ape away. As the two monsters continued the battle, Kong hit his head on a rock and was knocked out. Godzilla kicked rocks onto Kong and roasted him alive with his atomic breath. However, a lightning storm moved above the area, and Kong was revitalized by the lightning. Kong grabbed Godzilla by his tail, electrocuting him through his touch. Kong and Godzilla battled across the mountain, with Kong gaining the advantage thanks to his electrical attacks. Eventually, both monsters plummeted into the ocean, causing a powerful earthquake. Kong soon surfaced and swam back to his island home of Farou, while Godzilla was nowhere to be seen. The humans who witnessed the battle believed it was still very possible that Godzilla had survived the battle. ''Mothra vs. Godzilla Two years after Godzilla and King Kong's epic battle on Mt. Fuji, a powerful typhoon hit the coast of Japan, tearing apart the coastline and delaying the construction of a new theme park built by Happy Enterprises. Mothra's egg was brought near the coast of Japan and promptly claimed by Happy Enterprises as the main attraction of their new park. Unbeknownst to humanity, Godzilla had also been brought ashore by the typhoon and was buried under layers of sediment in a floodplain. A radioactive scale was discovered on the floodplain, so Professor Miura attempted to test the area for radiation. No signs of radiation were detected at first, but suddenly the ground erupted and the radiation levels skyrocketed. Godzilla suddenly emerged from underground and shook the sand from his body. Godzilla bellowed viciously and proceeded to Nagoya, where he wreaked havoc and plunged Japan into a state of emergency. The Self-Defense Forces' efforts proved futile in stopping the monster, so Professor Miura, reporter Ichiro Sakai, and photographer Junko Nakanishi traveled to Infant Island to ask for Mothra's help. The Infant Island natives and even Mothra's Shobijin refused to help, but Mothra herself agreed to fly to Japan and fight Godzilla, despite her old age. In Japan, Godzilla demolished J.S.D.F. forces while slowly advancing to the incubator containing Mothra's egg. Just before Godzilla could reach the egg, Mothra arrived and attacked him. Mothra dragged Godzilla by his tail and knocked him off his feet with gusts from her wings, but she was no match for Godzilla's deadly atomic breath. Mothra released a poisonous yellow powder from her wings as a weapon of last resort, but was sent crashing to her death from a blast of Godzilla's atomic breath. With his opponent defeated, Godzilla continued his rampage through the Japanese countryside. Building off their successful attempt to repel Godzilla using electricity two years ago, the J.S.D.F. constructed a perimeter of power lines that could project millions of volts of artificial lightning and dropped super-conductive metal nets onto Godzilla. The power lines electrocuted Godzilla, causing him to fall over helplessly. Just as it looked like Godzilla would be defeated, the power lines overheated and began to spark and melt. Seizing the opportunity, Godzilla destroyed the power lines with his atomic breath and continued his rampage. Godzilla soon reached the coast of Japan and swam to the nearby Iwa Island, where a schoolteacher and her students were still stranded. However, Mothra's twin larvae hatched from her egg and headed to the island as well to battle Godzilla. The larvae came ashore and began spraying Godzilla with silk. Godzilla fought back angrily, but could not hit the two small larvae as they hid behind several structures on the island. One larva bit Godzilla's tail, causing him to thrash his tail around in pain. The other larva sprayed Godzilla with silk once more, restraining his arms and hindering his vision. Both larvae continued to cocoon Godzilla in silk until he toppled into the ocean, defeated. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Only a few months after being defeated by Mothra's larvae, Godzilla emerged from his underwater sleep and destroyed an ocean liner before returning to Japan to wreak havoc again. However, once Godzilla came ashore he noticed the giant pteranodon Rodan flying overhead. Godzilla followed Rodan to the area near Mt. Fuji, where Rodan openly attacked Godzilla. The two monsters battled for countless hours, sending the inhabitants of the nearby area fleeing in terror. Meanwhile, the three-headed space dragon King Ghidorah emerged from a meteorite and began spreading death and chaos across Japan. Knowing that she could not beat Ghidorah alone, the surviving Mothra larva approached Godzilla and Rodan and pleaded for them to join forces with her to save the Earth from King Ghidorah. Godzilla scoffed at the idea, claiming he owed nothing to humanity because all they did was attack him, a statement Rodan agreed with. Mothra tried to convince the other monsters that the Earth did not belong just to humanity or the giant monsters, but to all life. Godzilla and Rodan still stubbornly refused, forcing the young Mothra to try and take on King Ghidorah by herself. King Ghidorah cackled maniacally and blasted the larva about with his gravity beams, while Rodan and Godzilla watched. Inspired by Mothra's courage and appalled by Ghidorah's cruelty, Godzilla and Rodan both entered the battle alongside Mothra. The three Earth monsters managed to overpower the extraterrestrial fiend, sending him flying back to space in defeat. Godzilla and Rodan bid farewell to Mothra and her Shobijin, then went their separate ways in peace. Invasion of the Astro-Monster Following the battle with Ghidorah, Godzilla went to sleep at the bottom of Lake Myojin. The Xiliens, a seemingly friendly alien race from Planet X, asked the Earthlings to borrow Godzilla and Rodan and take them to Planet X to fight off Monster Zero, a terrible space monster who was terrorizing their planet. The Xiliens transported Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X using special spaceships and set them loose on the planet's surface, where they were attacked by Monster Zero, who was none other than King Ghidorah. Together, Godzilla and Rodan drove Ghidorah off, much to the delight of the Xiliens. The Earthling emissaries departed for Earth, leaving Godzilla and Rodan behind. Once the emissaries arrived back on Earth, they learned that the Xiliens intended to conquer and colonize Earth, and that King Ghidorah was their pawn the entire time. Now, the Xiliens had Godzilla and Rodan at their disposal as well and threatened to unleash all three monsters against the Earth. When the Earthlings refused to surrender, the Xiliens released the monsters, who laid waste civilization and any military forces that tried to oppose them. Earthling scientists had, however, developed a way to sever the Xilien's control over the monsters using special light rays. The rays successfully broke the Xilien's mind control, and the Xilien forces were promptly destroyed by the military through the use of a high-frequency sound that rendered their kind helpless. Godzilla and Rodan regained consciousness and noticed King Ghidorah, and promptly attacked him. The monsters battled until Rodan carried Godzilla and flew right into Ghidorah, knocking all three monsters into the ocean. King Ghidorah flew out of the water in retreat, but Godzilla and Rodan were nowhere to be seen. Still, the humans strongly believed that the two monsters could not have been killed. Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster Godzilla had in fact survived his encounter with King Ghidorah and swam to the seemingly remote Devil's Island and slept in a cave on the island in peace. Devil's Island was actually the base of operations for a terrorist organization known as the Red Bamboo, who had enslaved natives of Mothra's home Infant Island and were manufacturing nuclear weapons. A group of shipwreck survivors arrived on the island and encountered an escaped slave. The group fled from the Red Bamboo and took refuge in the very cave where Godzilla was sleeping, much to their shock. With the Red Bamboo still stalking the group and the waters around the island patrolled by the giant lobster Ebirah, the group made a desperate decision, wake up Godzilla and hope he destroys the Red Bamboo. The group used a copper wire and sword as a lightning rod, which when struck by lightning successfully roused Godzilla from his slumber. Godzilla burst free from the cave and approached the coast, where Ebirah emerged to challenge him. Ebirah and Godzilla tossed a boulder back and forth at each other before Godzilla finally entered the water to fight Ebirah up close. After a fierce battle, Ebirah swam away, leaving Godzilla victorious. Godzilla walked inland on the island and sat down to rest against a cliff. Suddenly, Godzilla was attacked by the Giant Condor, another monster that the Red Bamboo had guarding the island. Despite being challenged by the gigantic bird's speed, Godzilla dispatched it quickly with his atomic breath, sending its corpse plummeting into the ocean. Not long after, the Red Bamboo sends a squadron of fighter jets to attack Godzilla, which Godzilla easily destroyed. Angered, Godzilla proceeded to attack the Red Bamboo's base, completely destroying it. The Red Bamboo's leaders rigged the entire island to blow by detonating the nuclear reactor on the island, and quickly escaped on a boat. However, the juice they normally used to repel Ebirah was sabotaged by the natives and Ebirah quickly destroyed the boat. With the Red Bamboo eliminated, Godzilla approached the coast where Ebirah appeared to challenge him once again. Godzilla and Ebirah battled once more, but Godzilla gained the upper hand as he tore Ebirah's claw off. Ebirah reeled back in pain, only for Godzilla to tear his other claw off. Maimed and outmatched, Ebirah swam away. At the same time, Mothra arrived on the island to rescue all of the captives. Godzilla followed Mothra ashore and roared at her, challenging her to battle. Mothra, wanting to save her people and the other humans trapped on the island before it exploded, flew at Godzilla and knocked him over, buying her time to carry the people away and escape. Godzilla watched Mothra fly away bitterly, seemingly unaware of the impending explosion. But only seconds before the detonation, Godzilla dove into the ocean. After Devil's Island was wiped from the surface of the Earth by a nuclear explosion, Godzilla surfaced from the ocean, to the delight of the humans whose lives Godzilla had, intentionally or not, saved. ''Son of Godzilla ''Destroy All Monsters'' ''All Monsters Attack'' ''Godzilla vs. Hedorah'' ''Godzilla vs. Gigan'' ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla'' ''Terror of Mechagodzilla'' Heisei Era The Heisei series, called the "VS series" in Japan, is the second series of Godzilla films that began in 1984 with The Return of Godzilla and ended in 1995 with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. The Heisei films are generally more serious and darker in tone compared to the Showa films. The Heisei films are a complete reboot from the Showa films and only share continuity with the original Godzilla, ignoring all of its sequels. The Heisei films also share closely-knit continuity with each other and frequently make references to events from the previous film. The Heisei movies also attempt to provide social commentary on issues such as the Cold War, genetic engineering, Japan-U.S. relations, deforestation, and other issues. Godzilla is portrayed as a menacing anti-hero in the Heisei series rather than the benevolent superhero of the Showa films, but shows a gentler side sometimes and is said to possess human feelings and emotions. ''The Return of Godzilla'' ''Godzilla vs. Biollante'' ''Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah'' ''Godzilla vs. Mothra'' ''Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2'' ''Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla'' ''Godzilla vs. Destoroyah'' Millennium Era The Millennium series, called the "X series" in Japan, was produced in response to the failed American remake by TriStar Pictures in 1998, which featured the monster that would later be known as Zilla in place of Godzilla. In response to fan outrage, Toho rebooted Godzilla again in 1999 with Godzilla 2000. The Millennium series ended in 2004 with Godzilla: Final Wars. The Millennium films with the exception of the Kiryu Saga are each standalone and share no continuity with each other. The Millennium films for the most part all reference the 1954 original film, but offer alternate possibilities such as the first Godzilla surviving the Oxygen Destroyer, returning as an undead creature, or being converted into a robot. The Millennium films are mostly characterized by featuring a feral redesign of Godzilla with huge jagged dorsal spines, a long crocodilian snout, and a hunched-over stance. The Millennium films maintain a serious tone like the Heisei series and portray Godzilla as a menacing force of nature, but remove many of the subplots and other elements of the Heisei films. ''Godzilla 2000'' ''Godzilla vs. Megaguirus'' ''Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' ''Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla'' ''Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. ''Godzilla: Final Wars Legendary Era The Legendary series is the first series to be made by a company other than Toho, being made by the American company Legendary Pictures. The Legendary series consists so far of only one movie, Godzilla from 2014, but a sequel entitled Godzilla 2 is confirmed for release in 2018. The Legendary series attempts to establish Godzilla in a grounded universe and shares no continuity with any other film in the series, even the original. Godzilla himself is portrayed as a majestic godly being, and possesses a heroic persona in line with his late-Showa incarnation. ''Godzilla'' ''Godzilla 2'' New Toho Era In response to the 2014 American reboot, Toho announced plans to produce a new Japanese Godzilla film with an expected release of 2016. Nothing is known as of yet about the film, only that it will be released before the sequel to Legendary's reboot. Untitled 2016 Godzilla Film Powers and Abilities * Atomic Breath - Godzilla's signature ability is to spit a focused, superheated beam of concentrated radioactive plasma from his mouth. The radiation is presumably contained within glands inside his dorsal spines, as they glow before he releases the beam. It can set fires to anything it hits and also kill even some of the strongest of monsters with a single shot. Godzilla's atomic breath has varied in strength, appearance, and color but is usually portrayed as a thick, neon-blue beam. * Hyper Spiral Ray - A more powerful variation of Godzilla's atomic breath, the reddish-orange-yellow spiral ray can only be fired when Godzilla is under extreme stress or has absorbed a considerable amount of power. It is a red beam that is wrapped in a yellow electrical spiral and has the power to completely destroy the most powerful enemies, like Super-Mechagodzilla 2, SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah, and Keizer Ghidorah. * Nuclear Pulse - Godzilla can release a powerful shockwave of nuclear energy from his entire body, which is useful when he is restrained or in close combat with a foe. * Energy Absorption - Godzilla has a remarkable capacity for absorbing various energy. Godzilla naturally feeds on radiation, but can also draw power from plasma or electricity. Godzilla was also able to absorb the life force of Rodan and be completely revitalized enough to destroy Super-Mechagodzilla 2. Godzilla also once displayed the ability to absorb enemy attacks and project the energy back at the source using his atomic breath, which he did to defeat King Ghidorah in GMK. * Superior Durability - Godzilla's hide is nearly indestructible and is not damaged at all by conventional weapons, allowing him to withstand gunfire, missiles, and even blows from other monsters with impressive resistance. Few of Godzilla's opponents can pierce Godzilla's skin and draw blood. Only Gigan and Mechagodzilla were able to consistently do so. Godzilla has taken on two miniature black holes before and survived both with no visible damage. Godzilla also survived a direct hit from an energy beam at absolute zero. * Regenerative Healing Factor - Godzilla's cells are virtually immortal and allow him to regenerate extremely quickly, if injured, from practically any wound, including being completely disintegrated or blown to smithereens. Godzilla's regeneration is due to a substance in his cells known as Organizer G1, which has proven to be highly mutagenic to other creatures, such as Biollante and Orga. * Immense Supernatural Strength - Godzilla possesses extremely incredible physical strength, allowing him to knock down large buildings and lift and throw opponents several times his size with ease. * Tail - Godzilla uses his powerful tail as a bludgeoning weapon against enemies. Godzilla's tail is incredibly strong, even being able to support his entire weight and allow him to slide on it. Godzilla's tail has also been shown to be prehensile, curling around limbs of opposing monsters. * Flight - By firing his atomic breath directly at the ground, Godzilla can use his atomic ray as jet propulsion to actually propel himself into the air and take flight. * Intelligence - While humans often assume Godzilla is a wild brutish animal, Godzilla has demonstrated intelligence on par with, if not exceeding, human intelligence. Godzilla is able to fully communicate with other giant monsters by speaking a language of roars and grunts that only giant monsters understand. Godzilla employs strategy in battle against more powerful foes and has found and exploited scientific weaknesses in his opponents that even humans were not aware of. Examples would be when Godzilla destroyed SpaceGodzilla's power source in the Fukuoka Tower and when he allowed himself to be eaten by Orga so he could reach its core and destroy it so Orga could not regenerate. * Psychic Abilities - Godzilla is said to be the most powerful psychic in the world and is able to sense danger or the exact location where he needs to be at any time. Godzilla is able to telepathically communicate with Godzilla Junior and can locate him wherever he is. Weaknesses Although Godzilla is essentially immortal and has proven to be the most powerful monster in the world, he has several exploitable weaknesses. * Oxygen Destroyer - The Oxygen Destroyer is a device that converts oxygen molecules into a highly corrosive substance capable of disintegrating any organic matter. This device was used on the first Godzilla in 1954 and reduced him to a skeleton in a matter of seconds. However, it seems that the Oxygen Destroyer was only effective against the first Godzilla, as the Heisei incarnation of Godzilla was able to withstand repeated attacks from the monster Destoroyah, whose powers contain all of the power of the Oxygen Destroyer only magnified. In other continuities, Godzilla even survived or completely regenerated from the Oxygen Destroyer. * Electricity - Godzilla possessed an aversion to extremely high voltages of electricity. King Kong was even able to defeat Godzilla using his electrical attacks. Eventually, Godzilla gained a mastery over electricity and it became a power source for him rather than a weakness. * Cadmium - Because Godzilla's heart is a nuclear reactor, scientists proposed that the element cadmium, which is used to cool down nuclear reactors, might shut down his heart. The warcraft Super-X fired cadmium shells down Godzilla's throat and successfully stopped his heart, but only temporarily. Godzilla's immune system was able to overcome the effects of the cadmium and he soon regained consciousness. Still, cadmium continued to be an effective way to temporarily subdue Godzilla. * Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria - This bio-weapon, abbreviated as ANEB, was engineered from enzymes within Godzilla's own cells. The ANEB was effective in removing radiation from Godzilla's body and rendering him extremely weak. It did not kill Godzilla as scientists had hoped, but forced him to go dormant underwater until he absorbed massive amounts of radiation from a nuclear submarine and overcame the ANEB. * G-Crusher - The plan code-named "G-Crusher" was designed to destroy the bundle of nerve tissue, or "brain," in Godzilla's hip area that gave him control over his lower body. G-Crusher utilized Mechagodzilla2's shock anchor cables to destroy the nerve bundle and cripple Godzilla, leaving him helpless against Mechagodzilla's attacks. Thankfully for Godzilla, Rodan's sacrifice regenerated the brain and allowed Godzilla to survive and defeat Mechagodzilla. *'Meltdown' - If the nuclear fission in Godzilla's heart goes out of control, he becomes a ticking doomsday clock. After becoming Burning Godzilla, Godzilla is much more powerful, but if his internal temperature reaches 12,000 degrees Celsius his heart will undergo a nuclear meltdown and he will implode. Godzilla's meltdown completely destroyed Godzilla, however his energy lived on and reincarnated him through his son. * Emotional Weaknesses - Some of Godzilla's more cruel enemies like Destoroyah and SpaceGodzilla utilized Godzilla's emotional connection to his adopted son Godzilla Junior as a way to attack him. SpaceGodzilla attacked Junior to draw Godzilla to him and later imprisoned Junior in front of Godzilla, taunting him. Destoroyah took this one step further and mercilessly killed Junior in cold blood right in front of Godzilla. Though these moves successfully harmed Godzilla emotionally, it was ultimately his anger and determination for vengeance that allowed him to overcome these enemies. Forms Godzillasaurus Before being irradiated by the hydrogen bomb, Godzilla was a type of dinosaur called a Godzillasaurus. Godzillasaurus is 12 meters tall, 20 meters long, and weighs 60 tons. Godzillasaurus looks similar to a tyrannosaurus, but with longer arms, a longer neck, a slightly smaller head, and a more upright stance. Other Godzillasauruses existed in prehistoric times, but Godzilla and Godzilla Junior are presumed to be the only remaining members of the species. Super Godzilla After absorbing King Ghidorah's cells and a substance called S-Energy, Godzilla reaches a much more powerful form called Super Godzilla. Super Godzilla is 110 meters tall, 180 meters long, and weighs 80,000 tons. As Super Godzilla, Godzilla has tusks on the sides of his mouth, a crown on his head, spikes on his shoulders, and a fluorescent green glow all over his body. Super Godzilla has a more powerful version of his atomic breath called nova breath and can fire a powerful energy blast from his navel. Burning Godzilla When his heart is overloaded with nuclear energy, Godzilla reaches a state of critical mass and becomes covered in glowing red rashes and his eyes become bright red. As Burning Godzilla, Godzilla becomes considerably more powerful and his atomic breath is replaced with the hyper spiral ray. However, if Godzilla's internal temperature reaches 12,000 degrees Celsius, his heart will enter meltdown and cause Godzilla to implode like a dying star. Burning Godzilla theoretically has enough power contained in his overloaded heart to cause a Big Crunch and destroy the universe, but the humans used freezer weapons to minimize the damage from his meltdown and prevented this scenario. Quotes *"You have your fear, which might become reality, and then you have Godzilla, which is reality." - Hideo Ogata, Godzilla (1954) *"Maybe it's because... Godzilla is inside each one of us!" - Yuji Shinoda, Godzilla 2000 *"Listen, kid. There's two things you don't know about the Earth. One of them's me, and the other is Godzilla." - Captain Douglas Gordon, Godzilla: Final Wars *"We call him... Gojira." - Ishiro Serizawa, Godzilla (2014) Trivia *Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira, is a combination of the Japanese words "gorira" (gorilla), and "kujira" (whale). Godzilla was given this name because at one point his design was said to look like a cross between a gorilla and a whale. Toho stuck with the name even after Godzilla's designed was finalized as a reptilian creature because he blended the huge size and aquatic lifestyle of a whale and the bipedal stance, intelligence, and strength of a gorilla. *The original Godzilla film was originally conceived to star a Giant Octopus, a giant gorilla, and later Anguirus, but after taking inspiration from The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Toho decided to make the monster a giant prehistoric reptilian creature. *Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for the atomic bomb and the horrific destruction it brought upon Japan. Ishiro Honda was a strong pacifist and intended Godzilla to be an allegory to discourage nuclear proliferation. *Godzilla, according to his creators, was never meant to be an evil or truly malicious creature, but a tragic victim of nuclear testing that would punish mankind for its folly. Over time, Godzilla evolved as a character and even became a heroic character serving as a force of nature defending Earth from threats, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial. * ]]Due to Godzilla's international popularity, Toho decided in the 1970's to allow an American film studio to produce their own Godzilla film. The first project, Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, fell through and Toho rebooted the Godzilla series themselves in 1984. In the 1990's, Toho sold Godzilla's film rights to TriStar Pictures. The original project featured a genetically engineered guardian Godzilla battling an alien creature called the Gryphon. TriStar aborted the project for budgetary reasons and hired Independence Day director Roland Emmerich to make a Godzilla movie. In 1998, TriStar released a film that featured a radically redesigned, animalistic, asexual, mutated iguana that was killed by conventional weaponry in place of the traditional Godzilla, drawing heavy backlash from fans of Godzilla and Toho executives alike. Toho rebooted the Godzilla series the following year in response to fan backlash. They later renamed the creature from the 1998 film "Zilla" for all future appearances, claiming it "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla,'" and had the real Godzilla kill it on screen in a one-sided battle in the movie Godzilla: Final Wars. After putting the series on hiatus in 2004, Toho entrusted Yoshimitsu Banno, the director of Godzilla vs. Hedorah, with the film rights to Godzilla and allowed him to approach American filmmakers to make a new film. Banno planned to make an IMAX short film called Godzilla 3-D to the Max but was unable to acquire enough funding. Banno approached Legendary Pictures and proposed a new full-length American Godzilla film. Toho formally sold the film rights to Legendary and provided tighter restrictions on the portrayal of Godzilla so as to avoid a repeat of the 1998 film. In 2014, Legendary and Warner Brothers released Godzilla in theaters, making it the first truly official American Godzilla film. *Godzilla has appeared in numerous non-film media over the years, including comic books, video games, and television shows. *Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him the only fictional character to hold a star there. *The Godzilla series is the longest currently-running film series of all time. *Godzilla was portrayed by an actor in a suit in every Godzilla film from 1954 to 2004. In the 2014 American reboot, Godzilla was portrayed through full CGI for the first time, not counting a cameo in the Toho film Always: Sunset on Third Street 2. *Godzilla's iconic roar was created by composer Akira Ifukube by rubbing a leather glove down a contrabass string and slowing and reverberating the resulting sound. *Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed Godzilla from 1954 to 1972 and several other kaiju in Toho films and Eiji Tsuburaya's Ultra series, is the only actor to portray both Godzilla and King Kong, who he portrayed in King Kong Escapes. *In the film Gamera: Super Monster, Gamera knocks over a Godzilla poster. Toho responded two decades later by making Godzilla kill Kamoebas, a turtle kaiju similar to Gamera, in Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. 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